The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) is an initiative funded by international donors including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. AGRA works to enhance agricultural productivity in Africa by training smallholder farmers, supporting the development of high-yielding seed varieties, and ensuring that farmers have access to good quality seeds, tools, and fertiliser. AGRA’s Program for Africa’s Seed Systems (PASS) provides grants and scholarships to agricultural scientists who take their knowledge into local communities, working with farmers to see which seed varieties best suit their land. AGRA works on innovative ways to make these seeds and other supplies widely available to rural farmers. Since 2006, AGRA has trained and certified over 5,000 new agro-dealers, and aims to reach 9,000 by 2011. This is having a real impact on farmers: in 2006 in Western Kenya, for example, a farmer had to travel an average of 17 kilometres to an agro-dealer to purchase seeds and fertiliser; today that distance is an average of five kilometres. AGRA has also provided loan guarantees through which farmers can access credit to purchase supplies that will boost their yields.
The Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX), which opened in January 2008, provides a low-cost, low-risk way for Ethiopian farmers to trade and get a fair price for their produce. It trades coffee, sesame, haricot beans, teff, wheat and maize. The exchange ensures the quality of the produce, and manages delivery and payment through exchange warehouses and clearing. This is a huge step for smallholder farmers – 85 per cent of Ethiopia’s population – who rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. For years, they struggled to sell their produce at a competitive price as buyers had the power to set prices. When there was a good harvest, food prices plummeted. Now, after years of famine and market reforms that did little to alleviate hunger, they have a much better chance of increasing their incomes. The idea for the Commodity Exchange was developed by researchers at the Ethiopian Development Research Institute and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The IFPRI is one of 15 agricultural research centres supported by a collection of donor governments, private foundations, and international and regional organisations.
The Investment Climate Facility (ICF) is an initiative that grew from the 2005 Commission for Africa and started operations in July 2007. Its aim is to work with receptive African governments “to make the continent an even better place to do business”. It is currently active in ten African countries and working on four pan-regional projects and two other initiatives. The ICF is funded by eight donor agencies – Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, South Africa, the UK, the African Development Bank and the International Finance Corporation – and nine companies – Anglo American, The Coca-Cola Company, Microsoft, SABMiller, Sasol, Shell Foundation, Standard Bank, Unilever and Zain. Current projects cover issues such as improving land registration in Burkina Faso, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone; improving business registration processes in Burkina Faso, Liberia, Madagascar, and Rwanda; simplifying VAT administration in Lesotho; enhancing the commercial justice system in Mali and Rwanda; and improving customs administration in Senegal.
Since 2005/2006, the Malawian government has provided a fertiliser subsidy to smallholder farmers, a programme that is now supported by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID). This subsidy provides vouchers to farmers to purchase fertiliser and seeds that enable them to produce a more robust crop. Like many African countries, Malawi has been prone to food shortages due to droughts and under-investment in agriculture. As recently as 2005, almost five million of Malawi’s 13 million people were in need of emergency food aid. The subsidy has made a substantial contribution to food security. In tandem with good rains and appropriate macroeconomic policies, it has enabled Malawi to produce a surplus of maize since 2007. In that year Malawi even donated maize to the World Food Programme and also sold some of its surplus in the region. While still a work in progress, there are early indications that the subsidy could also be fuelling other successes in Malawi, such as a decrease in the number of under fives who are severely underweight, and an increase in the number of meals per day people are eating.
As ONE continues to advocate for SMART Aid, we’ll be bringing you examples on the ONE Blog of how effective development assistance, when implemented correctly, can save lives.
In Kenya, as with many places in Africa, opening a bank account requires a minimum deposit which is often beyond the reach of poor families. In rural areas, banks can be far away and inconvenient to reach. M-PESA is a money transfer system which allows people to deposit, withdraw, and transfer money by mobile phone without a bank account. The model was piloted by Vodafone with assistance from the UK Department for International Development (DFID). It was implemented in early 2007 by Safaricom, Kenya’s largest mobile phone provider. It now has approximately five million users. A worker in Nairobi can open an account at any M-PESA agent, in a local shop, a Safaricom dealer, or a petrol station. He/she can deposit earnings into an M-PESA account and transfer money to family members via SMS. The recipients go to a local store in their village and cash the SMS using a secret code contained in the message, and their identification card. Considering that mobile phone subscriptions in sub-Saharan Africa grew by more than 60 per cent annually between 1994 and 2005, and are still rising rapidly, the M-PESA model could be the money transfer mechanism of the future.
Trade, fuelled by economic growth and investment, is an essential tool for poverty reduction. One challenge for many African businesses is navigating the complex rules and regulations involved in exporting to lucrative developed country markets. The USAID “Trade Hub” programs are designed to help African businesses take advantage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) – an American preference program that permits the export of certain African goods to the United States duty- and quota-free. Four Trade Hubs – in Botswana, Senegal, Ghana and Kenya – are helping African entrepreneurs navigate US customs laws, identify export financing, find buyers, and get assistance with pricing and marketing. The hubs have been successful in helping businesses introduce products such as clothing, fresh flowers, and fruit juice to the United States. In total, since 2005, the four African Trade Hubs have generated an additional $60 million in exports to the US alone. The West African Trade Hub has been particularly successful in boosting the shea butter and cashew industries.
A to Z Textile Mills in Arusha, Tanzania is an example of what can be achieved when aid works in tandem with private partnerships to support industry and employment – and when African countries reform their business climates to welcome investors. A to Z is the only African factory that manufactures long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets to protect families from malaria, the leading killer of children throughout the continent. It’s a joint venture with a Japanese company Sumitomo Chemical, which gave A to Z a royalty-free technology license to produce the special nets which last at least five years without retreating. The nets are bought by the Tanzanian Ministry of Health, donor agencies and non-governmental organisations including UNICEF and Population Services International (PSI). They are used to fight malaria across Africa. The A to Z factory has the capacity to produce more than ten million nets a year. It employs 4,600 Tanzanians, mostly women, each supporting an average of six people. A to Z will be opening a stitching facility in Ethiopia in June 2009 and a factory in Nigeria in the near future.
ONE is campaigning to ensure that the Congressional budget does not cut foreign assistance programs like Feed the Future that help people break the cycle of poverty and hunger.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. More than 11 million people, mostly nomadic pastoralists and farmers in south-central Somalia, north-eastern Kenya, and south-eastern Ethiopia, are severely lacking access to food.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
As aid agencies warn more than 9 million people could be affected by a food crisis in East Africa, world leaders are failing to keep their 2009 promises to tackle the causes of chronic hunger and support farmers in the world's poorest countries.
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Since 2005/2006, the Malawian government has provided a fertiliser subsidy to smallholder farmers, a programme that is now supported by the UK’s 
Trade, fuelled by economic growth and investment, is an essential tool for poverty reduction. One challenge for many African businesses is navigating the complex rules and regulations involved in exporting to lucrative developed country markets. The 
